Tuesday, September 28, 2010

His name was Earl and he was deaf. Completely deaf. Earl Handy, Jr. grew up in the small East Texas town of Nacogdoches, home of Stephen F. Austin University, a four-year, state-supported college. But Earl did not go there. Earl did not go anywhere like that. He went to public school, and it was certainly not the School for the Deaf. He did not understand that being deaf was not his fault. It was a malady that a person can endure, perhaps with great persistence and teaching. Earl could have accepted and learned to live with the circumstances handed to him, but that did not happen for Earl.

Earl worked hard in school when he was there, but he never was good enough for anything he loved doing. He tried to play football, basketball and other sports, but he was deaf and no one knew how to communicate with him. He eventually learned sign language, which was very helpful. Unfortunately, however, not many people in the “hearing” world knew how to sign, including Earl’s family. He was alone, paranoid, and confused. His language learning skills ended at the age of 4. He wrote using personal pronouns, like “me sad,” and “me do not understand.”

Earl eventually married a woman named Donna who learned to sign so she could communicate with Earl. At first, she seemed to truly love him. They even had a child, Jacob, who is now three years old. To everyone on the outside, the family seemed happy. Earl had never been so happy. He had a wife and son whom he loved dearly. Earl had a job and worked every day to provide for the family. Unfortunately, Donna eventually grew tired of a husband who could not talk and (of course) found another man. Donna took Jacob and left Earl one day while he was at work. He came home and his dream was gone. Where was she? Earl looked and looked, but he could not find her. A few days later, he learned where she was. Donna had moved out of their home, rented a mobile home in another part of their small town, and moved another man, Joe, into her home. Donna signed a lease for the mobile home and set up a new life living with Joe. Earl did not understand. "How can she do this?" he said to himself. "Where is Donna? Me sad.”

The situation began swirling inside Earl’s head. He could no longer think sensibly. He felt as if everyone was against him and everyone had left him. He was more alone than any hearing person could imagine. His parents, as bad as they were, were now dead. He had a grandmother, but she was in another city. No one was there to help him or talk/sign with him so that he could understand how to handle his loss.

Early one morning, Earl took a knife from the kitchen, went to Donna’s new mobile home and waited outside. Earl waited until he saw someone had gotten up from bed -- and it happened to be Joe. Joe walked outside the mobile home, and Earl jumped him. Earl beat Joe with his fist and stabbed him with his knife. Earl then ran inside the house with desperate thoughts screaming inside his head, “Where is Donna? I want my wife to come home!” Earl saw Donna, and a struggle between them ensued. During the struggle, Donna was stabbed in the chest. Donna died and Joe lived. Donna’s older son called the police. When officers arrived, Earl was sitting in the kitchen of the mobile home. The officer entered the trailer and Earl saw him. Earl still had the knife in his hand. The officer screamed at him to put down the knife, but Earl could not hear him. Earl held the knife up as if to say to the officer, “Shoot me! Donna is dead. I don’t care what happens to me. Shoot me!!” The officer hesitated, and Earl stabbed himself in the abdomen. Then, the officer tasered him, and Earl fell to the floor. He was then arrested and eventually charged with capital murder.

A crime of passion. The words “crime” and “passion” do not seem to go together in the same phrase. In the nonlegal world, the word “passion” is associated with the powerful emotions of either love or hate. But, in my world, a crime of passion is a mind out of control. The penal code says that during the punishment phase, which occurs after a jury has heard all the evidence in a trial and has reached a verdict of guilty, the jury may hear evidence raised by the defendant as to whether “he caused the death under the immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause.” If the jury finds in the affirmative, the possible sentence is then lessened.

Can you imagine being poor, uneducated, paranoid, confused, and in a world of total silence? Add being in prison for either the majority of the rest of your life or, alternatively, in prison for absolutely every single day for the rest of your life. Earl never grasped that concept.

I saw Earl last week. My investigator, co-counsel and I, along with an interpreter, went to visit him in prison. He looked bad. His hair had not been combed. He had not bathed with soap or brushed his teeth in so long that his breath and body odor were almost more than we could stand in such a small room. We got the officer on duty there to explain why Earl was in such a condition. The officer said simply, “All he has to do is fill out this form.” I explained to him that “Earl has no hearing. He cannot understand what you are saying to him. You do not know sign language. Can’t you see that? What is wrong with all of you? Can’t you see that he is dirty, unkempt, and smells bad. Why would you let him get to this point?” The officer on duty gave me a small plastic bag containing tiny, thin bars of soap, smaller than the ones you get in cheap hotel rooms. Also in this plastic bag was a tiny toothbrush and a tiny tube of toothpaste. As it was explained, the supplies were supposed to last a week.

Last Friday morning, I received a phone call. " Earl is dead," the caller said.

“Oh, my God! What happened? I just saw him three days ago.”

Earl wrapped a bed sheet tightly around his neck and tied it to a steel bar in his cell. Then, he simply sat down and let himself slowly suffocate. He wrote a suicide note. “Me sad. I don’t know nothing State of Texas. In jail nothing my mind lost.” After eight months behind bars, Earl finally understood.

8 comments:

Wow, that is so sad, Katherine. The poor guy didn't have much of a chance. It was nice of you to be there for him while you could. I'm sure he appreciated it...it was probably the only act of kindness he received while incarcerated.

When Earl Handy Jr. was a senior student at Nacogdoches High School in 1989, his classmates voted the popular athlete class favorite, Mr. NHS and Homecoming King. He was Duke of the NHS Dragonette Drill Team and was active in track and field, basketball and football, serving as Captain his senior year and garnering all-district honorable mention. His teachers selected him to be included in the Who's Who of the NHS Class of 1989.

Earl Handy's funeral is still pending. Donations are being accepted at Sid Roberts Funeral Home 936-564-4351. Or his 1989 Classmates are taking donations also....you can make that check payable to "NHS 1989 Reunion" they will get the funds into the right place. All money collected is going to the Handy Family to assist with funeral arrangements. The account number is 11137884....The address is: Commercial Bank of Texas, P.O. Box 6 3 5 0 5 0, Nacogdoches, TX 75963

nactown said......I beg to differ on several things in this article. First of all knowing Earl during his childhood and school years he was not poor his mother and father worked they were not rich, but certainly not poor. Secondly, he was not uneducated he graduated highschool he may not have went to college, but he did graduate from public school which is all Nacogdoches had at the time. And last but not least he was very good at the sports he loved to play in highschool, so being deaf was not a problem at NHS the coaches and teammates knew how to communicate so he would understand, we the people of Nacogdoches knew how to communicate with him if not through sign language, by mouth movement or by writing it down. He was a great guy and really had to be hurt to do something like he did.

This is a very heart felt article; however let me start by introducing myself. I'm Earl's first wife and I was his classmate. I loved him like there was no tomorrow!! Earls' education didn't stop at Nacogdoches High School, he took some classes at Stephen F. Austin; no he didn't graduate.Earl also went to Iowa and tried out for a football team. You were out of line for low rating his parents! They loved Earl!! No they didn't learn sign language but they communicated with him. You made him sound like he was just some deaf and dumb person and that's just not who he was. When I first got with Earl he taught me to sign and I am at now Stephen F Austin where I'm still working on learning more so I can prevent this for happening to any other deaf person. I can believe what you wrote about the gaurds because people do tend to look over deaf peoples' needs. Earl has always been a very neat and clean person and for them to treat him like they did was just sad!!! My heart goes out to Donna's family mainly her chidren. As for Earl's family they know the love I have for them and him. I also noticed that you didn't say anything about Earl's two beatuiful daughters, whom my heart really feels for because they truly loved their father. So the next time you want to write something about Earl please learn the facts first!!

I disagree with many of the comments posted in this article, Earl's parents were not bad people, they loved Earl and did whatever they could for him, Earl was great at everything he did, he was a great football player, and his coaches and teamates could communicate with him.Everybody loved Earl and he was not dumb, he was a very smart person. The next time you do an article, please do your research and get the facts, because many of the comments you have posted in this article are so untrue and unfair to Earl and his family.

regardless of Earl, what you wrote about the Tx Prison and bars of soap and material to brush ones teeth, very accuratehow the guards react. accuratemy husband was in prison and came back and showed me exactly what you described and he got those but as his wife I had to send money so he could get items to clean himself so he wouldnt get beaten up for smelling